In a schedule function with which processing programs of a die-sinking electrical discharge machine are successively executed, when an electrode number to be used therein is duplicated, in a conventional method, it is necessary for a user to recognize electrode numbers of all programs, and to correct the processing programs themselves so that the numbers are not duplicated in advance, to be registered.
Therefore, the conventional method requires a lot of work and incurs mistakes, and the operability is considerably poor. Moreover, when an existing processing program is used, it is required for a user to revise only electrode numbers of the existing processing program, and to give a different processing program number to the processing program for which the electrode numbers are revised, to register in a system. Thus, the operability is considerably poor.
In a technique described in Patent Literature 1, specification of an electrode in a processing program is performed by setting a temporary number, and when a tool specification is issued during the execution of the processing program, an execution tool number is inquired at a scheduler that stores a correspondence table of temporary numbers and actual numbers, to load an actual number electrode.